Is a TDR Program a Compensation Plan or a Land Use Planning Tool?
It depends on your perspective. The first and foremost objective of the program should be good land use planning. The program should be viewed as a means to provide financial incentives for land use planning. Although protecting “equity” has been mentioned by proponents of TDR programs, the experience of existing programs is that they do not come close to compensating for changes to value or “equity” when government imposes regulation on the use of property. A planner for the Seattle program strongly advises against using a TDR program with a goal of providing “equity” or compensation.
